Midday earnings digest

Marlboro cigarettes are displayed in Montpelier, Vt. Cigarette maker Philip Morris International Inc. said Thursday that its fourth-quarter net income increased 11 percent as it sold more cigarettes at higher prices.

Sprint posts big 4Q loss, revenue rises

U.S. wireless carrier Sprint Nextel says it lost $1.3 billion in its fourth quarter, about the same as a year ago, as it revamped its network for a comeback against bigger competitors. The company lost 44 cents per share in the October to December period versus 43 cents per share in the previous year. The loss was slightly smaller than analysts had predicted. The average Wall Street forecast as polled by FactSet was 46 cents per share. Revenue was $9 billion, up 3.2 percent from a year ago and slightly above analyst expectations of $8.9 billion.

Daimler sees Q4 profit rise on one-off gain

A one-off gain from the sale of an investment helped boost German automaker Daimler AG's net profit in the fourth quarter of 2012, offsetting the impact of higher costs. The company, based in Stuttgart, said Thursday that net profit was ?2.3 billion ($3.1 billion), up from ?1.79 billion in the same quarter last year, thanks to the sale of a 7.5 percent stake in European defense company EADS. That sale, which reaped a ?709 million gain, masked a 2 percent fall in Daimler's operating profit in the period, to ?8.6 billion from ?8.8 billion in 2011 as the company invested heavily in new plants and models. Daimler saw a 4 percent increase in sales in 2012 to 2.2 million vehicles, up from 2.1 million in 2011.

Alcatel-Lucent boss leaving as losses mount

Alcatel-Lucent CEO Ben Verwaayen is leaving the loss-making French-U.S. telecommunications gear maker after a failed four-year bid to turn the business around. Verwaayen said in a statement Thursday that it was "clear to me that now is an appropriate moment" for Alcatel-Lucent to seek new leadership. Investors cheered the news, with shares jumping 7.7 percent in early trading to ?1.40. The Dutchman's surprise departure comes as Alcatel-Lucent reported losing ?1.37 billion ($1.85 billion) last year, compared with a ?1.1 billion gain a year earlier. No details on Verwaayen's replacement were provided. He has agreed to stay on as caretaker until a successor can be found. Alcatel-Lucent said it will look at candidates both internally and from outside the company. The Franco-American company is in the middle of a ?1.25 billion restructuring program aimed at cutting 5,500 jobs, ending unprofitable contracts and leaving or reorganizing operations in poor markets. Alcatel-Lucent had aimed to raise its profitabilty from the 3.9 percent adjusted operating margin achieved in 2011, but abandoned that target halfway through the year. It finished 2012 with an adjusted operating margin of only 2.9 percent.

Costco's key Jan. revenue metric tops Street

Costco's revenue at stores open at least a year climbed 4 percent in January, narrowly beating Wall Street's expectations. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters forecast a 3.9 percent increase. Revenue at stores open at least a year is a key gauge of a retailer's health because it excludes results from stores recently opened or closed. Costco Wholesale Corp. said Thursday that the metric rose 3 percent for the U.S. and 5 percent internationally. Total revenue for the five week period ended Feb. 3 increased 7 percent to $9.35 billion. Fiscal year-to-date revenue at stores open at least a year climbed 6 percent. The metric also rose 6 percent in the U.S. International results climbed by 7 percent.

Fujitsu cutting 5,000 jobs in restructuring

Struggling Japanese electronics maker Fujitsu is slashing 5,000 jobs, or nearly 3 percent of its global workforce, as it seeks to boost profitability by reshaping its computer-chip business and its overseas operations. Fujitsu said Thursday the job cuts will be completed by the end of this fiscal year next month, and will rely on early retirement, layoffs and other methods. Details were undecided. Separately, another 4,500 workers will be shifted to other parts of Fujitsu, including a computer chip company being set up with Panasonic Corp., another languishing Japanese electronics maker.

Sony trims quarterly loss to $115 million

Sony Corp. is still struggling but managed to reduce its red ink for the latest quarter as the Japanese electronics and entertainment company aims for a comeback from record yearly losses. Sony on Thursday reported a 10.7 billion yen ($115 million) loss for the October-December quarter compared with a 158 billion yen loss a year earlier. The company had a record loss of 457 billion yen for the fiscal year through March 2011 as its TV business struggled and it suffered from factory and supplier damage in northeastern Japan from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Quarterly sales inched up nearly 7 percent to 1.95 trillion yen ($21 billion) despite declining sales of gadgets such as flat-panel TVs and Blu-ray video recorders, but only because Sony got a perk from a weaker yen. Sony has lost money for the past four years as it fell behind powerful rivals such as Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. in profitability and innovation.

Vodafone revenue falls amid tougher competition

Telecommunications company Vodafone says its revenue dropped 2 percent in the third quarter due to tougher competition, a weak economy, and regulatory changes at home and abroad. The company said that revenue in the quarter ending on Dec. 31 fell to 11.4 billion pounds ($17.4 billion). Several factors have been hurting Vodafone's earnings. In Britain and Italy, lower fees translated into a fall in revenue. In Spain, Vodafone said it lost customers after deciding to pull subsidies on its handsets.

Statoil profits halved in Q4 on lower oil prices

Norwegian oil company Statoil ASA says its fourth-quarter profits plunged 50 percent as revenue dropped because of lower oil and gas prices. The state-controlled company said net profit in the period was 13.0 billion kroner ($2.37 billion), down from 25.5 billion kroner a year earlier. Revenue declined by 8 percent to 159.2 billion kronor, with higher gas volumes partly offsetting a drop in prices. The report was clouded by a terror attack last month on a jointly operated gas field in Algeria. Five of the dozens killed were Statoil employees.

Credit Suisse returns to profit in Q4

Credit Suisse, Switzerland's second-biggest bank, returned to profit in the fourth quarter of 2012 but said it was planning to cut costs more than previously planned. The Zurich-based bank said Thursday it made a profit of 397 million Swiss francs ($435 million) during the period, in contrast to last year's loss of 637 million francs. CEO Brady W. Dougan said 2012 was "a year of transition" as the bank struggled with tough market conditions and made aggressive cuts in costs and risks while meeting new requirements that it hold more capital. But he saw this year starting well. Credit Suisse also reported full-year results for 2012 that showed a net profit of 1.48 billion francs ($1.62 billion), a 24 percent drop from 1.953 billion francs in 2011. The bank said that by the end of 2015 it would raise its cost-cutting target by 400 million francs to 4.4 billion francs. With some 47,400 staff around the world and 924 million francs in assets as of the fourth quarter, the bank is on the list of the 29 "global systemically important banks" that the Bank for International Settlements - the Basel, Switzerland-based central bank for central banks - considers too big to fail.

New York Times improves profit on slower advertising declines

New York Times Co., the newspaper publisher led by the Ochs-Sulzberger family, beat fourth-quarter profit estimates on slower advertising declines as the online subscription business continued to grow. Net income tripled to $177.2 million, or $1.14 a share, compared with $58.9 million, or 39 cents, a year earlier, the company said today in a statement. The fourth quarter included an extra week in 2012, boosting gains. Excluding some items, earnings were 32 cents, beating the average analyst estimate of 31 cents, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Times Co., led by Chairman Arthur Sulzberger, still faces a difficult advertising market as national marketing spending continues to subside industrywide. Unlike regional newspapers, the New York Times relies on national advertising from major marketers such as movie studios, car companies and luxury goods for most of its money. National advertising dropped 10 percent across all newspapers in the first nine months of last year, according to the Newspaper Association of America. The company also owns the Boston Globe and the International Herald Tribune. Advertising slid 8.3 percent to $265 million from a year earlier, excluding the effect of an extra week in the fourth quarter of 2012. That slide compared with an 8.9 percent decline in the third quarter. Circulation sales rose 8.6 percent to $241 million. Subscribers to online editions of the New York Times and International Herald Tribune increased 13.1 percent from September to 640,000. Total sales climbed 5.2 percent to $575.8 million. Analysts predicted $570.4 million.

Teva fourth-quarter profit slides as generic revenue drops

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.'s fourth-quarter profit fell 19 percent as sales of generic drugs dropped and competition hurt the Provigil sleep-disorder drug. Earnings excluding some costs declined to $1.14 billion, or $1.32 a share, from $1.4 billion, or $1.59, a year earlier, the Petach Tikva, Israel-based company said in a statement today. Analysts predicted $1.33 a share, the average of 24 estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Teva raised its quarterly dividend 15 percent. Profit is suffering as patents on key products begin to expire. Provigil lost patent protection last year, and sales plunged 93 percent in the quarter. Teva's top-selling product, the Copaxone treatment for multiple sclerosis, may lose sales to copies this decade, along with the cancer medicine Treanda and Nuvigil, a treatment for excessive sleep. Sales of generic products declined from the "unusually high" level in the 2011 fourth quarter, when Teva began marketing a copy of Eli Lilly & Co.'s Zyprexa and Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. began selling a generic of Pfizer Inc.'s Lipitor in partnership with Teva, the company said.

Exelon to make first dividend cut as quarterly profit declines

Exelon Corp., owner of the largest group of U.S. nuclear plants, will cut its quarterly dividend for the first time as falling electricity prices and expiring long-term contracts reduce profit. Cutting the payment to shareholders will "position us to maintain our investment-grade rating, return a stable dividend and provide capacity to invest in growth," Christopher Crane, chief executive officer of Chicago-based Exelon, said in a statement today. Exelon will reduce its dividend to 31 cents a share in the second quarter from 52.5 cents. The company hasn't cut its dividend in the 12 years since it was formed by the merger of Unicom Corp. and Peco Energy Inc. Exelon is rated BBB by Standard & Poor's, two levels above junk status. The change in dividend was announced as Exelon reported fourth-quarter profit declined 38 percent on lower power prices and higher nuclear fuel costs. Net income fell to $378 million, or 44 cents a share, from $606 million, or 91 cents, a year earlier. Excluding one-time costs, per-share profit was a penny less than the 65-cent average of 16 analysts' estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Advance Auto Parts 4Q profit falls 2%

Advance Auto Parts Inc. said Thursday that fourth-quarter net income fell 2 percent, as lackluster sales were offset by higher supply costs and growth-related expenses. The Roanoke, Va., seller of auto parts and batteries earned $65.1 million, or 88 cents per share, for the period ended Dec. 31, down from $66.4 million, or 90 cents per share, a year ago. Advance Auto Parts, which operates nearly 3,795 stores in the U.S., Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, said revenue increased slightly to $1.33 billion. Sales at stores open at least a year fell by nearly 2 percent.

Philip Morris Int'l 4Q profit rises 11%

Cigarette maker Philip Morris International Inc. said Thursday that its fourth-quarter net income increased 11 percent as it sold more cigarettes at higher prices. The seller of Marlboro and other cigarette brands overseas said shipments rose nearly 3 percent and it grew market share in a number of key markets. Philip Morris International, based in New York and Switzerland, reported earnings of $2.1 billion, or $1.25 per share, in the three months that ended Dec. 31, up from $1.9 billion, or $1.08 per share, a year ago. On an adjusted basis, it earned $1.24 per share, beating analyst estimates of $1.22 per share. Excluding excise taxes, revenue increased nearly 3 percent to $7.9 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet expected revenue of $8.03 billion.

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Midday earnings digest

U.S. wireless carrier Sprint Nextel says it lost $1.3 billion in its fourth quarter, about the same as a year ago, as it revamped its network for a comeback against bigger competitors.